Tuning up ye olde bandsaw?

[Zach]

Hi guys,

Needing to run some 6 inch tall boards through the band saw, ripping off 6 inch wide pieces an 1/8th of an inch thick.

I've learned that it takes a lot of tension, and that the blade does not cut a straight line if you go square to the table. (Take a piece of scrap with a straight line drawn on it, follow the line... run a sharpie down the side of the board. That is the bias on the blade...)

What I'm having trouble with, is that I can make a slice about 4 inches long, before everything grinds to a hault and forward progress is smoke.

What sort of blade should I be using to do this?

I'm curious if I made a ramp for the table so the saw is cutting diagonally through the wood... if that would help, or if my holding the back end of the board up in the air is just making it easier to clear the waste?

Thanks guys.

(I'm wanting to make some funky curved trim work that looks as though it was bent out of a solid piece... without buying premade veneer, as I haven't found it longer than 8 feet.)

Zach

[Hirilondë]

There are special resaw blades for what you are doing. They have very large teeth. But expecting to stay on course to make 1/8" pieces, even using a rip fence will be very difficult.

[earlylight]

When adding hull ceilings to my Sabre I used Satinwood (a very hard wood). To resaw it, I used a "resaw blade" on my band saw. I found that feeding it slow seemed to work fairly well. I was trying to resaw to approx 1/4 inch thickness but found that I had to cut to a tad over 5/16 inch and then run the resawn strips through a surface planer to get the 1/4 inch I needed. Good luck.

[okawbow]

I think you are asking a lot of any bandsaw to cut thin laminations that are more than 2 or 3 inches wide, and any length over a couple feet. The blade wants to follow the path of least resistance, and as soon as it gets twisted in the wood, it's all over. If you can find quatersawn wood; you might get better results, assuming you use a wide resaw blade on a perfectly set-up, solid machine.

[Triton 185]

Hi Zach,

For resawing, use the widest blade that would fit your bandsaw with about 3 TPI (teeth per inch). Look for blades that have carbide-impregnated teeth and a norrow kerf that will help with cutting efficiency. Their is a guage on bandsaws that indicate the amount of tension you can place on the upper idler wheel to tension the blade. Do not be shy about exceeding this guages reading as this setting may not supply enough blade tension. As important is ensuring that your thrust bearings and guide blocks are adjusted correctly. When installing your new blade; back all of these off and then adjust them once the blade is tracking properly.

When re-sawing be patient and listen to the motor so you don't ask the machine to do more than it is capable of. I have re-sawn a variety of 6" hardwoods on a 16" bandsaw - you just need to have a good blade, set up and take your time.

Each time you cut a thin layer off, joint the face of the board again before removing the next layer. Like Earlylight, I also cut the layers thicker than what I require and then put them in the planer to machine them to their final thickness. You are best to use a shooting/backer board in the planer when machining thin wood.

(I'm wanting to make some funky curved trim work that looks as though it was bent out of a solid piece... without buying premade veneer, as I haven't found it longer than 8 feet.)

Veneer is available thicker than the standard 1/28th and 1/40th of an inch. Many companies carry 1/16" veneer for edging that is longer than 8' This material would be ideal for making curved laminations.

Hey so.....I have to ask, why not make it out of a steam bent piece? It is really not that hard to do and can be visually more pleasing. What are you making?

[Zach]

I'm building a curved hand rail for the stair case on noel... and would like to make a curved board for it to attach along the wall.
I can rip 1/8th inch stock off to about 3 inches tall off as long a board as I've got room to manage, using a piece of angle iron as the rip fence clamped down... and going real slow.
My rear thrust bearing is pretty much shot, so I've always adjusted it so the blade rides just forward of it... when the blade works back to it, it makes a bit of a racket and I lower the pressure.

I've never successfully steam bent anything, any tips on that? I've made a few sizes and shapes of steam boxes from plywood, tried the gutter pipe trick... perhaps I have never made enough steam.

Thanks guys... I'll pick up a rewsawing blade and see what happens.

Zach

[Zach]

Oh, the other half of why wide stuff...

I've been goofing around with lost foam molding, and would like some thicker stuff than normal wood veneer so it can stand up on its own. Sort of like the old hot laminated dinghies of the 20's and 30's, to be able to lay a thin skin of wood across some forms and then fiberglass/encapsulate it.

I have to build 2 shower pans with dropped bottoms and teak grates... It's either building a mold, making them square sided with big fillets out of plywood... heat bending some divinicell into a barrel shape (my preference...) or gluing up a few pieces of styrene foam and carving it to shape.

Expanded styerene foam (dow board) is really easy to work, cheap, and epoxy doesn't melt it unless you put enough mass on it that it gets hot. The problem is, its so easy to work its hard to get a real fair surface right off the bat. The kit airplane guys warp veneer around the foam to flatten out the surface and jump across inconsistencies.

[Quetzalsailor]

Go Googling around in tool sites. You'll find places to buy aftermarket guides for the blade and fancy guides for the table. You'll find urethane tires for the drive wheels. You'll find folks who will weld you up the blade of your choice to the length you need.

I have two small bandsaws. The 12" 1970's Craftsman has a cast aluminum frame and cast iron table. Its blade guide components are locked in place by setscrews tapped into the aluminum. There's not enough room or to fit better guides; there's not enough metal to modify the setscrew locations; the frame isn't rigid enough for high tension. It was never stable enough for resaw work over about 1" thick. Even with new blades. I have not bought blades from anybody but Sears, cheepies all.

The second is a 12" 1940s Walker-Turner. It's cast iron throughout but the blade guides are rudimentary at best. At least it's rigid! And the cast iron is good enough to bolt to or tap. The blades are a queer length so I'd have to buy what I need made up.

A woodchuck friend of mine has a 14" Taiwanese special, Grisly, or something like that. Some cast iron, mostly steel weldments. It is tempermental to set up but will eventually tolerate resawing about 6" thick material (unless you're trying to do Makore).

I bought the Walker-Turner on eBay thinking it was bigger; oops. Bigger, older, cast iron, is better and would be worth rebuilding and adding modern goodies to.

[Bluenose]

Zach,

I am pretty new to hacking in wood but my old 14 inch Delta/Rockwell bandsaw is pretty much my go to saw so I have spent considerable time trying to dial it in.

From my research and experience the 14 inch saws can't provide the tension needed to resaw with wide resaw blades. It sounds counter intuitive but I use a 3/8 inch blade for most all of my tasks. If I notice any binding my first choice is to put in a new blade. Then I recheck that the bandsaw is tracking parallel to the fence. In my case I worked pretty hard tuning up my saw so it tracks parallel to the miter gauge and the fence (ie no lead angle)

With a properly tuned up bandsaw and a sharp blade properly tensioned blade it should be quite possible to slice of the 1/8 inch that you need.

[Triton 185]

From my research and experience the 14 inch saws can't provide the tension needed to resaw with wide resaw blades.

I have used Timber Wolf bandsaw blades that are designed for low tension resawing. I was actually surprised how well they worked. They could be worth a try.

[barrybrown]

"I've never successfully steam bent anything, any tips on that? I've made a few sizes and shapes of steam boxes from plywood, tried the gutter pipe trick... perhaps I have never made enough steam."

It has been a while since I have done this and I never did it often enough to consider myself to have any expertise but I did have success.

My steam box is copper (I don't think it matters what material) with wires running through it from side to side to create a rack for the wood. I use a tea kettle with the spout adapted to fit into the bottom of the box and heated on a one burner portable electric stove. None of that really matters the most important thing is to soak the wood overnight before steaming. Also it is good to remember that the wood will compress on the inside of the bend and not stretch on the outside. How long you steam is trial and error depending on the heat and the size of the wood.

Also if I were ripping 6" thick planking into 1/8" strips my first thought would be to do in on the table saw from both sides and finishing the cut if necessary with a rip saw then run it through a thickness planer.

Barry

[danielguiod]

Zach,I'm in the process of cutting 1/4" strips 4" wide out of african mahogany. My bandsaw is an inexpensive 10" Craftsman with a 5/8 hp motor. . It's essential that the boards face is planed flat, the saw is dialed in really well and the blade is in good shape. I use a long 4X4 for the fence, with the blade referenced to the fence. It's all this saw wants to do to cut this , but it is going with a lot of patience. Good luck

[Rachel]

Welcome to the forum, Daniel!

If you've been reading here for any length of time, I'm sure you know we're thinking "Hmm, I wonder how he's using those 1" x 4" strips of mahogany on that Triton...." :)

Rachel

[Quetzalsailor]

According to their instructions, the minimum thickness you can plane with Ryobi AP 10 is 1/4". You can cheat some but not much. The work rolls through on rollers whose spacing and force tends to bend thinner stock, and shards come wailin' out when the work breaks. I imagine that the others are similar. Means that homemade lamina have a practical minimum thickness, at least for any kind of quantity. If widths less than 2 3/4" are required, and you have a decent min 10" table- or radial arm saw, and a really good blade, lots of nerve and care, and work holding systems, you can get 1/8" strips. If all the conditions are met, you will not need to plane the stock.

As for steaming, you can learn in short order, enough to get the job done. I've used purpose-made steam boxes, aluminum foil pans on the floor, cast iron pipe, simply boiled wet wood with a torch or a hot air gun. I've steamed oak, mahogany, luan (lousy and brittle), mahogany veneer, cypress.

I had expected that 1/16" mahogany veneer would have bent to the degree I needed for one job. I ended up steaming one end of a stack of strips of the veneer. (Picture) I clamped all 8 strips for two frames in a row, side by side, steamed 'em all with a sponge and hot air gun and quit when the stack had drooped to the curve required. Let 'em dry and laminated 'em with one cross veneer.

[Hirilondë]

When I need thin strips of wood that are relatively wide I will set the table saw blade to a little less than half the width of the board high. I then set the rip fence for the thickness I want and pass the board twice, once on each edge. I now have a kerf on both edges but still a little material left holding the piece to the board. I then pass it through the band saw free hand. The 2 kerfs keep me on target and cutting is easy as little wood is left. I then use a hand plane to clean up the raised strip left in the middle that the band didn't remove like the table saw did. Then sand if needed. Done.

There is some waste using the table saw due to the thikness of the blade, but by the time you cut thick on the band saw and plane down to flat again you have wasted at least as much. I find it safer using this procedure as well. At least I feel a lot more confident that I am in control.

[One Way David]

Couple of comments.

The Band Saw Book http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q= ... CCsQrQQwAg

Ditto on 3/8, 1/4 blades with max 3 TPI, a sharp blade.

Consider using wedges when riping long wide pieces to prevent pinching the blade.

Consider using a point fence instead of the long traditional fence (see book above).

You can plane thinner stock using a backer board or a home made drum sander.

Steaming wood to bend it is a common concept but it is actually the heat that puts the wood into the mood to be bent. I dry heat wood to bend it. You can get a higher heat (and burn the wood if not careful), and it doesn't raise the grain like steam does. It takes patience to allow the wood to reach an even temperature before trying to bend.

Search OWWM.com for some excellent re-saw tips. http://www.owwm.org/viewforum.php?f=1
You may have to join to search, but it is free and informative.

[Skipper599]

... I'm a little late getting in on this thread but I thought I should comment: ... Very recently, I purchased from Highland Woodworking, a resaw blade called a "Wood Slicer" ... for my Delta 14 band saw. This blade is super thin, variable tooth pitch 3tpi capable of cutting veneer thickness pieces from parent stock.

... I bought a 1/2" blade to cut 1.16"w strips from 1" teak boards for a bowsprit platform. The finished saw cut was almost smooth, requiring minimal sanding eg: 3 or 4 swipes with the sanding block for a finished surface ... Oh yes, I also bought a set of Cool Blocks to replace the 'Original Equipment' Blocks ...

... I slacked off the tension, backed off the support bearings, removed the old blade, cleaned the 'tires' thoroughly and then replaced the cool blocks, leaving the new ones "wide" ... I then installed the new 'Wood Slicer' blade and set it to medium tension. I ran the motor for a couple of mins to 'set' the blade on the wheels. I brought the bearings close to, but not touching the blade. I increased blade tension and adjusted the cool blocks to .001" clearance on each side, rechecking the clearance of the back bearings.

... In adition to paying close attention to blade adjustment, I also adjusted the fence to sit parallel to the blade.
... The back edge of this blade has been pre-polished to remove rough surfaces or snags. The first cuts were beyond all my expectations.